Cut Off

26 April 2016

I recently stumbled across John 3:16 in Hawaii Pidgin, a language (based in part on English) spoken by many Hawaiian residents. The translation deeply blessed me. “Why?” you may ask. Well, in particular due to its translation of mē apolētai which is rendered in the commonly used New King James Version as “not perish”. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” we read. Now, in the Hawaii Pidgin version, “not perish” is rather translated as “no get cut off from God”. In the original Greek, the root of the verb in question implies absolute and permanent destruction. It means to be fully destroyed, to be cancelled out with everlasting effect. Could there be a better interpretation of John 3:16 than that our belief in Jesus prevents us from being cut off from God? I think not! This is what Jesus saves us from: a permanent separation, an eternity in hell, ages and eons apart from our Creator, Lover, Lord of All. If we believe in Him, we do not get cut off. Rather, we receive everlasting life or, in Hawaii Pidgin, “da real kine life dat stay to da max fovea.” Hallelujah!